Improvement in machines for bending chain-links



W. B. CONWAY & W. A. HEALD. Machine for BendingGhain-Links.

No. 208,515. Patented Oct. 1, I878.

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N-FETERS. PHOYO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. n C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM B. OONl/VAY AND WALLACE A. HEALD, OF INDIANAPOLIS, IND.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR BENDING CHAIN-LINKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 208,515, dated October1, 1 78; application filed I December 31, IP77.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM B. CONWAY and WALLACE A. HEALD, ofIndianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have invented anew and useful Machine for Mannfacturing Links for Chains, &c., which isfully set forth and described in the following specification, andillustrated in the accompanying drawing.

The invention relates, principally, to the new construction andarrangement of devices and in the new combination of elements inalinkmachine, whereby links of all sizes may be easily and rapidly made,especially in bar-ironrolling mills, where the bar-iron when finished bythe rolls can be immediately run through the machine and converted intolinks, ready for welding, without the necessity of reheating the bar.

The object of the invention is to furnish a machine with devices ofpeculiar construction and arrangement that will facilitate themanufacture of chain-links, &e.

The invention consists in the new construction and arrangement ofparticular parts, and in the new combination of elements, in alinkmanufaeturing machine, which are deemed essential to produce certainresults, all of which will hereinafter be fully explained.

In the drawing, in which like letters of reference in the difierentfigures indicate like parts, Figure 1 represents a perspective plan viewof the machine embodying our improvements, and shows the generalarrangement of all parts'above the table. Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5aresectional elevations. Fig. 6 represents the link, as formed complete,ready for welding, by the machine. Fig. 7 represents the linkblank ascut by the machine preparatory to bending. Fig. 8 shows an edge and planview of the adjustable shears and end former-block of the link; and Fig.9 is an edge and plan view of the other adjustable former-block, withgage attached.

With main reference to Fig. 1,.A represents the table or bed of themachine, mounted on legs, and provided with two openings, A A and witharms or. bracket-shaft supports A A and a central groove, W. Thebrackets A A project backward and form supports for the shaft B, whichis mounted in suitable boxes 0 C. On said shaft are secured the largecentral cam, R, the small cams, T T, the eccentric E, and driving-wheelD. The cams T T are of the construction shown i. 0., flat on one edgeand curved on the other-and they, together with the eccentric E, areadjustable on the shaft, and may be secured thGIQIO by setserews orkeys, or with set-screws and afeather, which is preferred as the bestmeans of preventing the cams and eccentric from slipping out ofadjustment.

In the groove WV of the bed-plate or table A the driver Q operates, andis held in position by the caps or slide-boxes h h. The driver Q is ofpeculiar construction. The main part Q is, bypreference, made square,and is provided at the rear end with a T-head, Q which extends above andbelow the driver Q, and forms an abutment for the cam R to operateagainst and force the driver forward as the cam is revolved. In order toinsure the quick return of the driver (after the cam has forced itforward, and in its revolution has presented the straight part B to theT-head Q and always keep it in contact with the cam R, various methodsmay be employed, and we show one of the simplest-that of a spring,y,Figs. 2 and 3, which operates on a rod, Q, The rear end of said rod issecured to the lower arm of the T-head Q and the front end passesthrough a bracket, 1, at the front of the machine. The spring y at oneend abuts against the bracket 1, and at the other end against aset-collar, m, which can be adjusted to regulate the tension of thecoiled spring. Itis obvious that apulley, cord, and weight could be usedin place of the spring; or a pull-sprin g may be attached and producethe same result.

The front end or head, Q, of the driver Q is hinged at in such a manneras to prevent the body from rising above the level of the table, but soas to allow the projecting end 8 to fall below the top surface of thetable in its backward movement, as shown in Fig. 4, and by means ofmechanism hereinafter described the said projecting end is made to riseand travel forward above the top of the table, as shown in Fig. 3. In arecess, w,

formed in the side of the groove W, (reference being had principally toFigs. 1 and 5,) is alever, V, which is pivoted at r to the side wall ofthe recess, as shown. This lever is provided with a bent wire, Ir, whichis attached to the downward-projecting lug k,and extends sidewise intothe notch .r, and then turns downward, and is provided with a weight,It", below, as a means of pulling the lever down a t'ter it has beenraised by the pin Y of the driverliead Q in its backward motion. Theluglris designed to support and hold the lever level on top. 'hen thelug rests on the bottom of the groove W the operations ot' theselast-described parts are as follows: The pin Y, which is inserted in theside of the hinged head Q, as the head moves forward, travels on the topof the lever V, and holds the projection 8 above the table until itfalls ott' the pivoted end 1, when the head Q tips down far enough toallow the projection s to be below the top surface of the table, asshown in Fig. 4. As the driver moves backward by the action of thespring y, the pin Y passes under the lever V until it reaches the lug k,and then raises the lever enough to allow the pin Y to pass under it. Atthe same time the curved part 1* at the rear and bottom of the hingedhead Q comes in contact with the lifting-plate r, and raises the head Qto a horizontal position just as the pin Y passes the end of the leverV, and just as the driver Q has reached its limit of stroke backward,when the rear end of the lever V falls down, the lug k resting on thebottom of the groove \V, with its upper side level,to allow the pin Y toagain travel over the top and repeat the operation. The purpose forwhich this peculiar operation is designed will hereinafterbe fullydescribed.

()n the upper surface of the table A, and extending across the groove Win front of the openings A A, is located a bar, l,', which is secured tothe table by bolts 1 l". Said bar is elevated above the table farenoughto allow the sheaves 1 1 to operate between it and the table, and isprovided with slots f f, in which the sheaves 1 may be adjustedsidewise. The adjustable former-block L is of peculiar form. It has ashape similar to that shown in Fig. 8, and is provided with slots f, (orthe slots may be formed in the table A,) so that a means of adjustmentsidewise may be obtained. The curved former u is formed in the mannersubstantially as shown on the plate L; but various sizes of detachablesegments with curved edges may be attached to the plate to form the endsof link-blanks of ditl'erent sizes.

On the plate L is secured the cutter K, which is inclined at an angle ofabout forty-five degrees, and is designed to operate in conjunction withthe cutter J, that is secured to the rod or shaft H, the said shat'tbeing reeiprocated in the boxes I I by the eccentric E and strap rod F,in such a manner as to cause the cutter to cut off from the rod 0 ablank of the required lengtlnwith beveled ends 1 p, properly formed tomake a lap-weld, as shown in Fig.

7. The other former-block, L, is of similar construction to that of L,except that instead of being provided with a cutter it is provided withan inclined gage-plate, K and an iiiclined support, K, for the beveledend 19 of the blank to rest on and prevent the blank from turning aroundafter it has been cut oft. This is one of the important features, as itprevents the cut blank from rolling out of position and allowing thebeveled parts p to be turned the wrong way for welding when the blank isforced through the sheaves, which,in the absence of such a device, orsome other for the same purpose, would be liable to occur.

Attached to the under side of the table is a shat't,1\l supported insuitable hanger-boxes; and on said shaft is secured, in an adjustablemanner, the levers M M, which are connected by bolts at their lower endsto the cam-strap rods S 5", these rods being also secured to the squarestraps S S, that are operated by the cams T T on the shaft B. The upperends of the levers M M are curved, and their extreme upper ends on theoutside are rounded to conform with the curved parts 20 'w of theformer-blocks L L. The springs z are attached to the lower arms of thelevers, and to some suitable bracket, as l, and act as drawsprings topull the lower ends of the levers and the straps S S forward.

In adjusting the machine, the former-blocks L L are moved sidewise theproper distance to receive the blank cut from rod 0, of the properlength to form the required size of link. The sheaves l are alsoadjusted to give the required width of link. The proper size segments,it any are required, are attached to the tbrmer-blocks L L, to form thecurves 1e ufor the ends of the link-blank, and an ad ditional width ofthe projection s on the driverhead Q may be added, it required. Thecutter J may be adjusted to cut the blank from the rod 0 by moving theeccentric E and guide-boxes I I; and the arms or levers M M must beadjusted, together with their cams T T, so as to allow the upper ends ofthe levers to operate against the blank, and bend the ends of the linkthat are to be welded between them and the formers w w of the blocks LL, as shown in Fig. 1.

It will be seen from the foregoing that when the machine is adjusted andin operation, the rod 0 is inserted (hot) between the cutters K and J,and a small piece is out 011', to give the bevelpattheend.Duringthebackwardmotion ot' the cutter J the rod 0 is pushed throughuntil the beveled end 12 strikes the gage-plate K and rests on thebeveled support K. The cutter J, on its return stroke, cuts from the rodthe proper length for the link, as shown in Fig. 7, and at the same timethe cams T T move the levers M M, and bring their upper ends against thesevered portion of the rod, bending the ends thereof against the formers2c 10, as shown in Fig. 1. The cams T T, after forcing the levers M Magainst the ends of the blank cut from the rod, rotate far enough topresent their flat edges to the rear sides of the straps, therebyreleasing the said straps,

and allowing the springs z to pull them back and bring the upper ends ofthe levers M M below the upper surface of the table, out of the way ofthe blank while it is being bent. At the same time the large cam Rforces the driver Q forward. The projecting end sof the hinged head Qcomes in contact with the blank severed from the rod 0, and forces itthrough between the sheaves P P, the curved beveled ends of the blanksweeping around suddenly as the same is forced through the sheaves,forming the link, as shown in Fig. 6. The link may then be removed fromthe head Q, and the pin Y, being in front of the lever V, allows thehead Q to drop. The pinYpasses under the lever Vin its back stroke,allowing the projecting portion 8 to pass under the next blank that hasbeen out while the first blank is being carried through the sheaves; andwhen the head Q is at its extreme back stroke the lifting-plate r raisesthe head so that the projection s is above the table, ready to engagewith the next blank in its forward stroke.

It is obvious that the cam B may bediscarded and an eccentric or crankemployed instead thereof, and that there may be various other devicesemployed to operate the hinged head Q, and allow it to pass under thecut blank in its back stroke, and raise the said head so as to engagewith the blank in its forward stroke; and other modifications orequivalent devices may be used, whereby links with beveled welding endscan be formed at one operation, similar to that of our machine, withoutdeparting from the essence of our invention; and the levers M M may havebut one upper arm each to bend the ends of the link, and an independentlever-arm may be secured to the shaft M that can be made to operatebot-h levers by one cam, T; or a cam, T, may be made to operate straightrods with curved ends to bend the ends of the links, and in moving backwork down inclined planes formed in the table, so as to allow the endsof the blank to pass over them while swcepingaround and passing throughthe sheaves.

What we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The table A, with groove W and liftingplate 1, in combination withthe hinged head Q of the driver Q, in the manner and for the purposesubstantially as shown and described.

2. The lever V, with a bent wire, it, and weight or spring k incombination with the hinged head Q, having pin Y, and liftingplate 1",in the manner and for the purpose substantially as shown and described.

3. The adjustable plate L, with curved former w, in combination with thecutter, driver, sheaves, and bending-lever M, as set forth.

4. The adjustable plate L, with cutter K and curved former w, and theadjustable plate L, with gage K and an gle-plate rest K in com binationwith the adjustable movable cutter J and bending-levers M M, in themanner and for the purpose substantially as shown and described.

5. The adjustable plates L L, with curved formers w w, in combinationwith the sheaves P I, the bending-levers M M, and the driver Q, withhinged head Q, by means of which the ends of a blank are first bent, andthen the blank is forced through the space between the sheaves and thelink formed, in the manner and for the purpose substantially as shownand described.

6. The shaft M, with bending-levers M M, in combination with straps S S,the cams T T, and the curved adjustable formers w w, in the manner andfor the purpose substantially as shown and described.

7. The driver-head Q and pin y, combined WILLIAM B. CONWAY. WALLACE A.HEALD.

Witnesses E. O. FRINK, ERASTUS T. BUssELL.

